ad for Argus in the November, 1936 first issue of LIFE magazine
Toronto. Argus was a runner up to the mighty Kodak when I was a kid. Today, Argus is but an historical memory while Kodak continues on as a far smaller corporation, no longer the top dog of photography!
When LIFE was first produced in the fall of 1936, Kodak missed advertising in the new magazine, but not others including the International Research Corporation (IRC), then owner of Argus products.
IRC touted their cheap Argus A plastic body camera shown here as a solution to underexposure and inaccurate focussing while copying (and dissing) “the expensive ‘miniature cameras'”.
This camera was said to have popularized the 35mm film size to the States while the low price assured high sales. Sadly, the tiny camera was little more than a box camera, made to look like a well designed and made European miniature camera.
Over the years the Argus C-3, fondly known as the brick, became the brand’s best seller by far.
Our thanks to George Dunbar for discovering this fabled bit of photo history and sharing the advertisement with us.
